Nature's Guardian
by Ozlice101
Summary: Axel, an 18 yr old highschool student volunteers at Twilight Park Animal Shelter in his free time. However, when a saboteur is found amongst their ranks and animals are beginning to die will Axel be able to solve the complicated mystery unfolding in front of him? Rated T for violence.
1. Prologue

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**_

 **Some credit goes to Invaderhorizongreen for helping me on many occasions with this story.**

 _Beep beep beep be-_ Axel slammed his hand down on the annoying alarm clock, silencing the persistent beeping. He sighed, not wanting to get out of bed; it was a Saturday after all, which meant no school. However, he still had a job to do.

The pyro reluctantly slid out of bed and got dressed in a red T-shirt and some old jeans before walking to the kitchen for a quick breakfast. Already sitting in one of the attached dining room table's chairs was his roommate and best friend, Demyx. The blond waved to the redhead, a large smile dominating his features.

"Hey Axel! I was starting to think I'd have to wake you up." He said, shaking his head.

Axel rolled his eyes and began buttering a bagel. "You know I take volunteering seriously. Of course I'd wake up."

Now it was Demyx's turn to roll his eyes. "You always sleep through your alarm because it's a half an hour earlier than you need to be up."

"Shut up."

The blond smirked, happy in succeeding in irritating his friend. "Any new arrivals?" He wondered as he took a bite of his cereal.

Axel shook his head. "Nope. Last one was Namine. She's a sweet little thing. You'd love her."

"Then I guess I'll have to drop by and visit everyone soon."

"You should." Axel said as he stuffed the buttered bagel in his mouth. "See ya later. Got to go."

"Bye! Have fun!" Demyx called after him as he walked out the door.

.o.O.o.

Ten minutes later Axel pulled into the parking lot of the Twilight Park Animal Sanctuary, parking his Outlander in his usual spot behind the building. He clocked in before entering through the back door, the one primarily used by volunteers. After a quick stop at his desk to grab a small notepad Axel stopped at the first cage he came across.

"Sora? Kairi?" The man called as stepped inside the metal bars.

Immediately two blue eyed lion cubs came bounding up to him, one dark brown and the other tawny. Both began jumping excitedly around Axel as he bent down to pet them. 'Lively as ever' He thought as he jotted down the cubs' condition.

Dropping the notepad in his back pocket Axel left the cage briefly, coming back with two plates of red meat and placing them in front of the young lions. The cubs dug into the food ravenously, barely stopping to chew. Finishing in seconds the two reverted back to enthusiastically jumping on their caretaker.

Axel took a step back and knelt down to their level. "Sit." He said in a firm but playful voice. Kairi obediently sat down, though Sora continued to bounce. Axel held his hand above the cub's head and said the command again. The times the brown cat plopped down next to his friend. Axel made a clicking sound with his tongue before throwing each of them a treat. "Good job!" He praised.

Axel cycled through every trick they knew, finding to his pleasure that they'd remembered what he had taught them. With a final click of his tongue the pyro released the cubs to their own devices, leaving to check on his other charges.

First was Namine, Xion, and Marluxia, the three deer fawns. Namine was a female albino, Xion, also a female, was black, and Marluxia, the boy, was tawny with a hint of pink, and all had bright blue eyes. Second was the wolf pups, Riku, Larxene, and Xemnas. Riku and Xemnas were both silver, only separated by their sea green and blue eyes respectively. Larxene was gold, a large contrast to the others. Sora and Kairi were the two remaining lion cubs. There had been two others; Ventus and Vanitas, though they had died shortly after being brought to the sanctuary despite his and the other volunteer's efforts.

Regardless, Axel loved volunteering at the animal sanctuary. It was fun to play with the young ones and to watch them grow up. Some even got released back into the wild. However, the job did have it's downsides. Seeing some die or be put down was emotionally taxing, as well as dealing with the sick and wounded. Rescues were hard, but luckily he didn't have do that.

His job was to care for the rescued young animals the sanctuary took in, and hopefully either get to release them into the wild or transfer them to zoos that would take good care of them. He had only started in the winter, so the ones he cared for now were his first charges.

Despite his inexperience, Axel was a valuable employee of Twilight Park. If it wasn't for his excellent ability to sympathize with the animals Sora and Kairi could have died just like Ventus and Vanitas. All four had eaten some kind of poison, Ventus and Vanitas had been the unfortunate ones who'd eaten most of it, but because of that the other two lived.

Axel sat down at his desk just outside where the youngsters were kept, recording information on the animals. It was boring but mandatory. He quickly finished, and was putting all the paperwork away when someone entered the building.

"Hey Saix." Axel greeted as his boss walked past the doorway to his office.

"Hello Axel. I true you've fed the animals?" Saix said dryly. He and Axel weren't exactly on the bst terms.

The redhead's signature smirk played across his face. "Of course. I treat these little guys like they were my own."

"As long as you do your job I have no interest in your emotions towards the animals." The bluenette remarked as he walked away to attend to his own duties.

Axel crossed his arms behind his head and leaned back in his chair and sighed contently. He loved his job.

 **First chapter-done! Don't worry guys, the storyline gets far better from here! Be expecting the next chapter soon, and be ready for a new arrival!**


	2. Rescue

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**_

 **Hey guys, I'm back! I finally have inspiration again and it's all thanks to my co writer for this fanfiction; invaderhoruzongreen. Everyone, please check out her page and have fun reading this story. Things are going to start getting thicker, and this is my first suspense/mystery fic. Hopefully it turns out awesome. Enjoy!**

*Two Years Later*

Axel's life had always been pretty calm despite volunteering at the sanctuary, but a few days after the blazing heat of summer came around his first year that all changed. Remembering back to the first day of the intricate game, the redhead thought of how clever the enemy had been. The whole ordeal to him had been like a round of chess; nothing but a game of guessing and predicting the moves of your opponent only to ultimately have something you never expected come your way.

But then again, he'd always considered himself a good chess player.

.o.O.o.

 _Ring ring ring rin- "_ What the hell do you want Saix? It's 3 in the morning and I'm trying to sleep." Axel demanded sleepily as he answered his phone, wishing he could just ignore his boss.

"There's been a report of an abandoned lion cub in your area." Saix said emotionlessly.

Axel yawned. "So? Get one of the rescuers to do it." He grumbled, eyes half open.

"We can't. Everyone is busy. That's why we're calling you. You're the closest to the site and you've had some training in rescues." Saix explained, his patience running thin. He had better things to deal with than a whining volunteer.

The redhead sighed. "Alright, I'll do it. Where's the cub?" He asked as he climbed out of bed and got dressed.

"Traverse Ave. There was a rockslide and the lion is stuck under the rubble."

"Thanks, I'll be there as soon as I can." Axel hung up and rushed into his best friend's room, shaking him roughly until he woke up.

Demyx rolled over and groaned, "What do you want? I'm sleeping here."

Axel yanked the blanket off of the blond, causing him to curl up in an attempt to regain the lost heat. "I'm being sent on a rescue and I need your help."

As soon as the words left his mouth Demyx was up and dressed in a flash. He always love helping out with the sanctuary when he could, and now was one of those rare times. Both boys hoped in Axel's car and began speeding towards the sight.

Normally, the vehicles they used for rescues had the same rights as a regular ambulance; they could speed and not get pulled over and other cars had to let them pass. However, because he didn't own one he was forced to drive the speed limit, taking almost twenty minutes to reach Traverse Ave.

"Come on!" Axel cried as he jumped out of the car, heading towards the large pile of rubble on the side of the road.

When Saix said avalanche he wasn't kidding; there were rocks everywhere. It looked as if half of the mountain collapsed. The pyro scanned the pile for a lion cub, barely noticing a brown paw sticking out from underneath the rubble.

Axel turned towards Demyx, who was running over to help him and yelled, "Here!"

Turning back to the rocks, he began to unbury the cub, being sure to not let the remaining boulders fall back into the space he was creating. Soon their muscles were protesting from the effort, though they'd barely made a dent.

Both boys heard the faintest mewl come from the cub, the small sound becoming their motivation. A painfully long time later they managed to uncover the baby lion, and Axel took off his sweater and wrapped it around the cub before picking it up carefully.

He and Demyx ran back to the car and Axel climbed in the passenger side, Demyx in the driver's side. As the car pulled away from the side of the road Axel inspected the cub. It was golden with brown paws and a white muzzle. It's left shoulder had a large laceration that was gushing blood and it's right hind leg appeared broken.

"Demyx, hit the gas!" Axel yelled anxiously, pressurizing the cut in an attempt to slow the bleeding. If they didn't get to the sanctuary, now the cub would die.

"But what if we get caught by the cops?!" His friend protested, hesitant to do as the pyro said.

Axel ground his teeth. "I could care less if I went to jail! Get us to the animal sanctuary now!"

Without another word Demyx floored it, speeding down the road back the way they'd came. Within ten minutes they came screeching to a halt in front of the building. Forgetting about the car both boys ran inside, Demyx finding one of the doctors while Axel ran to the OR.

Axel laid the cub down on a metal table and quickly set up an it before sticking the lion with the needle, barely getting a response. Just then Zexion rushed in, ready to get to work. Unfortunately, while Zexion fixed up the cub Axel and Demyx could do nothing to help.

Knowing their job was done, the boys drove home to try and sleep for a bit before morning. For Axel however, this was a fruitless task.

All he could think of was the look of pure pain on the cub's face. Because of his past with lion cubs he was convinced the poor thing wouldn't live, but at least he gave it a chance. He'd done his job, and now it was out of his hands.

And that was exactly what was bothering him. The unexplainable guilt of not being able to help in someone's time of need, even after doing everything in his power to save it's life. He was itching for morning, for an answer.

Did the cub make it through the night?

That was Axel's final thought before he drifted off to sleep.

 **Okay, this chapter's done! I cut it off here for the suspense. The next part should be out tomorrow, so don't worry! This is gonna be an awesome story!**


End file.
